2019 National Press Foundation Awards Dinner

Each year, NPF honors the best in American journalism at our awards dinner. The 2019 dinner will take place on Wednesday, February 13 in Washington, D.C. Details on attending the dinner and sponsorships are here or contact Jenny Ash-Maher jenny@nationalpress.org 202-663-7285.

Award winners to be honored at the dinner include:

Judy Woodruff, PBS NewHour, and Al Hunt, Bloomberg View
Judy Woodruff and Albert R. Hunt have been selected to win the W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award. NPF judges took the rare step of honoring two journalists. Their citation: “Judy Woodruff and Albert R. Hunt are true partners in journalism and life. Their contributions to journalism personify lifetime achievement. Both have had distinguished careers across different media. Both have been generous mentors to an army of journalism heavyweights. Both have fostered informed and civilized public discussion of issues of critical importance to our nation.”

Rick Hutzell, Capital Gazette Communications
Rick Hutzell, editor of Capital Gazette Communications in Annapolis, Maryland, has won the Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award. Five Capital Gazette employees were killed in a mass shooting in their newsroom in June. In the months since, Hutzell’s leadership has inspired journalists around the country. NPF judges said: “We saw courage in the face of unimaginable tragedy in the Capital Gazette editor and his staff. As pledged, they put out a ‘damn paper’ the next day, and every day since in service to their community. It underscores the importance of local newspapers and the unbreakable bond with their communities.”

John Donnelly, CQ Roll Call
John Donnelly, a national security and foreign policy reporter for CQ Roll Call, has won the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress. The judges’ citation: “John Donnelly’s reporting demonstrates outstanding mastery of the defense beat. He methodically hammers away at questionable defense spending and Pentagon assertions through painstaking reporting on legislation and military arcana.”

Kashmir Hill and Surya Mattu, Gizmodo Media Group
Gizmodo Media Group journalists Kashmir Hill and Surya Mattu have been awarded the Technology in Journalism Award. NPF judges said: “Gizmodo explored the explosion of internet of things connected devices and the implications for privacy. Editorial partnered with technology to install and monitor devices in a reporter’s home, and by hacking the hardware of a network router was able to monitor all the information the devices were reporting back to the manufacturers. ‘The House That Spied on Me’ was an impressive way to illustrate and share valuable information with readers.”